DDoS Attack Temporarily Folds Major Poker Game Site

Late last week Americas Cardroom’s Winning Poker Network (WPN), a major online gaming site, was hit with a ransom denial of service (RDoS) attack that lasted a few days. This was not the first DDoS attack that the company experienced; actually, it was the fourth such attack since 2014. Incidents like this are prime examples of how DDoS attacks result in loss of revenue and customer trust; the company was forced to temporarily cancel all its tournaments and issue refunds.

The gaming industry is frequently targeted by DDoS attacks, in part because they do such damage to a gaming company’s bottom line and reputation. Timing is critical in online gaming, so it makes sense that gamers don’t like website latency. Unhappy gamers easily take their gaming or gambling money elsewhere. It’s no surprise that the hackers demanded ransom from WPN in exchange for ceasing the attack; a DDoS attack is powerful leverage. However, the WPN CEO was wise to not cave in to the hacker’s criminal demand, since that would have only rewarded the hacker’s bad behavior and encouraged that hacker or other hackers to follow suit (pun intended).

To prevent such future DDoS or RDoS attacks, WPN should “up the ante” in terms of its DDoS protection. Now more than ever, DDoS protection is affordable, scalable and flexible. Companies have the choice of hosting a DDoS protection appliance on-premises, or a hybrid approach that combines an appliance with a cloud scrubbing solution or outsourced protection via their Internet Service Provider or Hosting Provider. Modern DDoS protection services are a game-changing opportunity for the gaming industry. After four bouts with DDoS hackers, WPN can certainly find a solution that solves its problem; you can bet on that.

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With 16 years of experience in B2B enterprise software marketing, Joy Reo conducts lead nurturing and content generation programs at Corero to help the company increase brand awareness, lead generation and market share.